Watcha doin' in my waters?

Heidi and I took the kayaks out to Seal Island for a couple of hours of paddling and lolling on the ocean blue. And what a day for it: sunny, warm, the merest puff of breeze, clear and calm water, cormorants and pelicans swooping low over the sea, dolphins and seals swimming by to say hello.

Afterwards we walked through Freo, looking for somewhere that was still serving eggs on toast in the early arvo. We found it. I love walking barefoot on the footpath at this time of year, when the concrete is warm without being burning. It satisfies me.

Even with boot camp thrown into the mix this morning, it's pretty much been a perfect day.

I'm trying; I'm very trying.

New Girl and Man Hands came over last night. They brought Indian food for dinner. It was delicious and we all ate more than we should have. Note to self: Indian food and boot camp don't mix. They just don't.

---------------------------------

We all know that teachers know the bad kids' names first. Come down to the oval at 5.45am: my name gets screamed out a lot.

---------------------------------

The Antiquer's advice is: "Just when you think you've had enough, do more." My advice is: "When you think you've had enough it's probably time to curl into a ball and sob. Quietly or loudly - but you probably don't have the lung capacity for real wails."

The Azure

Despite the formidable wind, Heidi and I took the kayaks out to Seal Island this morning. We got buffeted around but it was worth it to see the seals and pelican chicks. Pelican chicks!

Nothing beats being out on the ocean. The river is peaceful - idyllic even - but the ocean is really living.

It was a long paddle back to shore into the headwind, but we just kept chugging along. A man in a little dinghy came over to us twice to check we were okay, and did we need a hand getting back to the beach. We can be a pretty good lot sometimes, us humans.

Later at the cafe where we were eating brekky we freaked the young waitress out ordering just eggs on toast.

"You can have bacon and eggs on toast. But I don't know about just eggs. I'll have to check with the kitchen."

Turns out it was okay. Well, phew.

Inspiration - The Second

At work:


QEII's niece gave me this kayaking Lego man for Christmas, so I've blue-tacked him to the top of my computer to keep me company and inspire me. Working for the weekend and all that.


He's such a spunky action man! But he could lose the facial hair.

There's no time to sit around eating pretzels on the lounge.

Subi has done his time in juvey and hopefully he's been scared straight. Also, you know, I will lock him behind the gate every night. Every mother must accept her role in her child's waywardness.

I picked him up from the smash repairers yesterday. When I saw him I couldn't resist giving him a kiss. I went inside and one of the men popped his head out of the workshop: "Pretty happy to have your car back then, darlin'?"

So now I've got one kayak on the roof and when New Girl gets here she can help me get the second one on.....and we're off!

The Boss Cracked A Funny!

We had yet another morning tea this morning for someone who is leaving. If I see one more sausage roll, well, I don't know what I'll do. Eat it, probably.

After a few words of farewell*, the BossMan presented our colleague with a very pretty posy.

"Nice bunch of flowers, BossMan," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "I called in at Karrakatta on my way to work."



*Will there be not a trace left behind?

At Her Majesty's Pleasure

On the weekend, Inge de Bruin and I did a tour of the tunnels at Fremantle Prison.

It's a terrific way to spend a couple of hours, though not if you're somewhat claustrophobic or have a fear of heights. They don't warn you about the ladder before you cough up your money. They should warn you about the ladder.

Anyway, at one point on the tour our group was paddling through some flooded tunnels, taking in all the evidence of convict life with wonder and awe. We stopped to listen to the guide tell us something fascinating. Inge de Bruin and I were in the last boat. In front of us was an English chap and his girlfriend, and the group also included his sister and a couple of other English people. When we stopped the English chap turned around to us, held his finger to his lips, indicated he was hitching our boat to his and that his boat was hitched to the boat in front of him, the occupants oblivious to the arrangement - no more paddling for us!

Inge and I laughed at what a mean joke it was to play on his sister. As we set off again and the four of us got tugged along we were positively hysterical. We wondered how long we could enjoy this free ride. To our amazement, the paddling pair didn't seem to notice and we were towed all the way to our return to the little launching jetty. Then amazement turned to utter embarrassment when the heroic paddlers got out of their boat and it wasn't the sister and a friend, as we'd assumed, it was a navy man and his son who were also on the tour.

The English guy laughed and clapped and said, "Thanks for the ride!" Inge and I stayed quiet. We felt like wide-mouthed frogs.

Straight to the Pool Room

After our morning kayak, Grumpy and I had enjoyed a leisurely coffee (well, I had a coke spider) and we were strolling back to our car.

A couple of motorcycling gents had pulled their hawgs up onto the brick paved area next to the car park. A well-meaning busybody stopped to warn them that the ranger would ticket them if they left their bikes there.

Her companion rolled his eyes. He advised the two, "Tell the ranger to get stuffed."

You're As Cold As Ice

The weather was beautiful yesterday so we decided to take the kayaks down to Seal Island for a bit of a paddle.

A dolphin swam under Grumpy's kayak ("Maldicion! I hope it was a dolphin!"). There were pelicans and cormorants and seals out in full force. The water was clear and the sun was warm. We were a kilometre or so off shore and a million miles from care.

When we'd been taking the boats off the roof of the car a middle-aged couple walked by. "You're brave," said the woman. "I bought a kayak a few weeks ago but I think I'll wait for the water to warm up before I go anywhere in it."

An hour or so later, when I got dumped by a wave, I could see the merit in her way of thinking.

We Love a Drive

So for the past twelve years Grumpy and I have always made sure that we've lived in places that are walking distance to the amenities of life - the cafe strip, movie theatres, restaurants, parks, swimming pools, etcetera etcetera (please think Yul Brynner). We then immediately jump in the car and drive over to the other side of town where they also have those things and enjoy them there.

Greenhouse be damned.

When we found out we were moving back to Western Australia, we decided that we'd like to be near the beach and Fremantle is the perfect spot - a town, with everything you need in a town, right near the beach. Yippee!

So on Sunday morning, with the kayaks strapped to the roof of the car, we drove 25 kilometres south to Rockingham to have a paddle and then sit at a foreshore cafe and enjoy some morning tea. And that's the way we like it.

I'm so glad we don't live in the age of the horse and buggy.

According to Grumpy

(1) On Friday night our Premier, Guy Smiley, was on TV talking about our new anti-terror laws. "In the age of the terrorist, which is the age we're living in...," he began. "This is the dawning of the age of the terrorist, the age of the terrorist," said Grumpy.

(2) On Saturday morning, after breakfast with our friends K & D who are heading off to Ghana (K may even start her own blog to describe their adventure), we drove back through Freo and along one side of The Esplanade witches' hats were blocking off one lane of traffic. We figured it must be for a fun run or traithlon or some such thing. As we drove along we saw an old lady wearing a numbered bib shuffling, Cliff Young-style, down the road and behind her a man loading witches' hats into the back of a ute. "I don't think she's one of the front-runners," said Grumpy.